Smashed Rabbit Bones Hint at Hidden Human Injuries

Medical science has known for some time that the direction of a bone fracture depends on how quickly the bone is compressed. If the bone is squeezed slowly, the break proceeds cross-wise. If compression is fast, the bone splinters along its length.

But now researchers at the Polytechnic Institute of New York University report that the speed of impact has other, less obvious effects. Using a custom-built pressure gun to smash rabbit bones, they've made a discovery that could affect the diagnosis and treatment of anyone injured by a sudden impact.

The study was published in July in the Journal of Biomechanics.

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Image courtesy of Nikhil Gupta

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR(S)

Eric R. Olson

Eric is multimedia journalist and producer who specializes in science and natural history. His work has appeared on the websites of Scientific American, Nature, Nature Medicine, Popular Science, Slate and The New York Times among many others. He is a former video producer & editor for Scientific American.

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